I always sand at about 900 rpm starting at 100 grit, this gets rid of any tool marks or ripples. I sand down to 400 grit & sand along the blank with the lathe stopped turning the blank by hand with each grit. Then I sand with 0000 wire wool finishing along the grain. I lift the speed to somewhere in the 1500 rpm range & polish with Farecla 300 then Farecla 500 polishing compounds.Beautiful bill. I've got some corian blanks drilled and tubes glued in. How to you finish them bill any guides you can point me to ?
Keith
Terry I think you’ll find the Pen comfortable to use.Bill I like your style. I'm going to have to try it next time I do slims.
Hi Steven, I went through the wet sanding phase but don’t bother now. I can’t see the finish on my pens so I rely on other people’s judgement. Walter Hall who is on this forum is one of my victims whom I call on to give me a critique on my finishing to keep me on my toes.Great looking pens. I haven't tried your polishing technique Bill. I usually wet sand from 240 to 12,000 then polish with Mothers plastic polish. I must try your method as I have stacks of Farecla laying around from my valeting days.
Really must go to work........
Hi Steven, I went through the wet sanding phase but don’t bother now. I can’t see the finish on my pens so I rely on other people’s judgement. Walter Hall who is on this forum is one of my victims whom I call on to give me a critique on my finishing to keep me on my toes.
Let me know how it compares with your method so I know if I need to go further to reach better finish.
I’ve given timber blanks a few spray coats of car acrylic clear lacquer, left them for 24 hours then buffed them on buffing mops finishing with manzerna acrylic wax polish. I now mainly use Phil Darts method of applying melamine, which you can find on Beaufort Ink website.I somehow doubt I am anyone to criticize your work Bill, your pens look beautifully finished to me.
What I am going to try with wood pens is to sand as usual, then remove the blanks from the lathe and spray them with three or four coats of automotive clear lacquer. Return them to the lathe and wet sand, then finish with compound and car polish. I'm hoping this will give me a finish similar to the CA glue technique that I've seen (and failed at miserably) on youtube. When I tried it I glued everything in the shed to its nearest item and most of my fingers to one another. The blank itself looked as though it had been dragged through a field of dust and cobwebs. Needless to say it wasn't worth any more effort and was filed under R.